Growing up in a parsonage in the hills of Arkansas gave me a very strange outlook regarding drinking wine and/or spirits. Going to graduate school in New York City provided me with a very different concept of the use for wine and spirits. Here I am going to talk about attitudes towards drinking as well as expose some of own prejudices about what tastes best when it comes to drinki

It was a fascinating time to grow up in the hills of Arkansas. I was born at the end of the great depression and in Arkansas most everywhere it was illegal to purchase alcohol (to drink). Moonshine was readily available, but real people certainly didn’t admit to knowing anything about it.

My parsonage upbringing meant that I not only lived in a house of absolutely NO alcohol but also I was taught to believe that it was evil and a sin to drink.

After leaving home, graduating from the university in Arkansas, still never having tasted wine or spirits, and then going to New York City to graduate school I certainly received a hasty education in the field of wine and spirits and discovered that I wasn’t struck by a lightening bolt when I had my first taste of beer.

Please understand that I fully comprehend how my parents felt and what their backgrounds did to them in this regard. Not only was it evil, but society that they were in just didn’t accommodate drinking ‘hard liquor’.

So, rather than continue raving about my falling off the abstinence wagon, I thought I would just chat about a concept of approaching drinking wine and/or spirits.

In the beginning of my drinking career I didn’t have the money available to do anything outrageous. I was content to have an occasional drink socially with friends and colleagues. I think this was a great way to be introduced. I never fell victim to binge drinking, or in fact I don’t think I have every actually been drunk.

When I survived graduate school and began my career I found that the odd social drink was about all that happened. Drinking just was not a part of my life and that was fine with me.

However, after having a family and faced with a much more mature attitude toward wine and spirits my wife and I had to come to some sort of plan as to how we were going to expose the children to the world that would include drinking wine and/or spirits.

The success of our marriage included wine and spirits. She was more into white wine and I into red. We enjoyed talking about wine and tasting all kinds of white and red wine. Neither of us was particularly fond of spirits. I like an armagnac (in the past with a cigar, but now without) and my wife preferred calvados as an after dinner drink.

For us this was a lovely way to live. Work hard and when work was over have a great meal with wine and retire to the open fire for a brandy (armagnac for me and calvados for my wife). We eventually worked in Scotland and learned to enjoy a single malt whiskey from time to time as well.

Back to the children. We decided to work at developing a proper palate for the children. We wanted them to enjoy the pleasure of wine and spirits without abusing them in any way. So, we talked about it with them. We let them have watered down wine (one small glass) with dinner after they became teenagers. Little by little we tried to help them discover the difference between good wine and spirits and that which was not good and could be very unpleasant with hangovers and generally lousy feelings.

Thank goodness it seems that we were successful. In fact our eldest once complained that we had made it difficult for him to drink with his university buddies because they all drank cheap wine and he just couldn’t stomach it. He lived over being cross with us and actually eventually thanked us for helping him learn to enjoy good wine and spirits in moderation and for the right reasons.

We have always felt that the right reasons were for the taste and the way in which it added value to the taste of the food. One of our favorite games was matching wine to food. It still is.

So if one can learn to enjoy wine and spirits in moderation and as a lovely social undertaking I feel that it is a great part of life.

It is very sad when it is abused. We all have seen examples of the possible evils of wine and spirits. But, with discipline and the right attitudes, it can be a wonderful world in which to live, eat and drink.

To get information and read some amusing and/or serious thoughts as well as receive a free special report go browse these two websites of Dobbs Franks http://www.24hourwebcash.com/franks5823 and http://www.viadobbsfranks.com.

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